By Alexey Sukachev

WBA cruiserweight champion Denis Lebedev (26-2, 20 KOs) lost 16 months, being out of the ring since his first epic encounter with Guillermo Jones in May 2013 and now looks to stay as active as he can. TBRB #3 Lebedev returned into action only three weeks ago but is already looking for more action after a smashing demolition of previously undefeated Pole Pawel Kolodziej (33-1, 18 KOs) within two rounds of brutal action.

According to Lebedev’s manager Vadim Kornilov, Denis can be back to the ring as soon as Nov. 28 on the same card with Ruslan Provodnikov Moscow coming (Jose Luis Castillo is listed as one of the most probable opponents).

“We hope that Denis will enter the ring on November 28 in Moscow”, Kornilov said to Izvestia media outlet. “We’re working closely on that. The opponent will be announced in the coming days. We were in negotiations with two very serious opponents but they both chose not to take on Denis when everything seemed certain. But we definitely want to arrange Denis yet another title defense this year”.

Two fighters expressed their will to go against Lebedev lately: ex-WBC champion Krzysztof Wlodarczyk (49-3-1,35 KOs), who was just defeated by Lebedev’s teammate Grigory Drozd, and ring icon Roy Jones Jr. (59-8, 41 KOs).